Hello, chocolate lovers. I’ve missed you! I finished up my book tour in November in Seattle and Portland, but I’ve been sleeping for a couple of weeks (eating chocolate is hard work) and haven’t posted. But before I tell y’all how the rest of the cross-country tour went, I have an announcement…
While I Was Sleeping… Three New Chocolate Books!
This is a joyous moment, because 2017 is officially the Year of the Craft Chocolate Book. In addition to my book, MORE chocolate books have been published, each unique and quite different in its focus.
Dandelion Chocolate’s book, Making Chocolate: From Bean to Bar to S’more, is a gorgeous glimpse into the Dandelion process. It reveals in exacting detail just how to make chocolate, the Dandelion way, and will be immensely useful for all of you nascent chocolate makers out there. (For example: There are plans for how to build your own winnower with PVC pipe.) Also don’t miss the section on sourcing as well as mouthwatering recipes from their café.
Dandelion celebrated its opening in New York with a one-week pop-up featuring hot chocolate, baked goods, and books, and it was truly delicious.
Askinosie Chocolate also just published a book. Called Meaningful Work: A Quest to Do Great Business, Find Your Calling, and Feed Your Soul, by Shawn Askinosie with Lawren Askinosie, it details Shawn’s journey to create a business that changes the world for the better and shapes his life in a positive way. The best part: Shawn teaches you along the way how to create this kind of life for yourself, with advice that rings true and exercises to help you get there. It’s about the chocolate, but so much more.
Meanwhile Professor Kristy Leissle (aka the Doc of Chocolate) is publishing a book called Cocoa that examines chocolate from a sociopolitical point of view. It’s part of Wiley’s Polity Resources Series (other titles include Cotton and Oil), and I cannot wait to read it. It comes out in the spring and promises to be a game-changer.
The Northwest Junction of the Cross-Country Tour
A few weeks ago at the Northwest Chocolate Festival in Seattle, I chatted about those chocolate books on a panel with Greg D’Alesandre of Dandelion Chocolate, Lawren Askinosie of Askinosie Chocolate, and Professor Kristy Leissle. Jael Rattigan of French Broad Chocolates was the best moderator any of us had ever seen and asked us smart, informed questions about our new books.
We also hung out with the whole industry at Indi Chocolate, where Dandelion and I had a joint book release party. So much good food and conversation!
Then in Portland it was a party, with a chocolate and beer pairing night at Ex Novo Brewing featuring Cocanú and BatchPDX with some kickass beers and a fun open house with chocolate and coffee at Ranger Chocolate with Trailhead Coffee Roasters (of course he served his coffee off of his bike).
The three-week extravaganza ended with a bang at Creo, with an Underground Chocolate Salon featuring every Portland chocolate maker and a full house.
Now I’m back in New York, hosting a few more events and hanging in until the holidays.
Speaking of the Holidays: Get Your Chocolate + Book Bundle
Bar & Cocoa has packaged my book with some of my favorite bars, which obviously makes a perfect holiday present. Think Askinosie Dark Chocolate w/ Crunchy Sugar & Vanilla, Amano Dos Rios, Dick Taylor Madagascar, Dandelion Mantuano Venezuela, Fruition Maranon Canyon Dark Milk, and Raaka Ghost Pepper.
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